[Editor’s Note: The preceding information was copied off the back of the bottle’s label. Any nerds who meet Tim in the future should not be disappointed if , when questioned, he fails to remember any salient facts about this, or any other specific bottlings you’re interested in. He’s not a proper nerd at all.]

P: Rich and full, mouthcoating. Big oak presence, but not too overbearing. Sweet, with the flavours of the nose, plus ginger, a more noticeable maltiness and a sponge cake or castor sugar character. Water takes the edge off and lifts a nutty character.

I think this is the third UK release from the Card Series – the first lot came out at the end of 2006 and included the Jack of Clubs, King of Diamonds, Ace of Spades and Queen of Hearts. There has also been a King of Spades and I think I remember a 2 of Clubs as well (although I might have made that last one up).

Recent Comments

I think that you have totally missed the point. Many of us are against NAS because increasing lack of information decreases our appreciation for a whisky. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with a young 5/6/7/8 year old whisky and as many Distilleries have shown, there is much to enjoy and learn from young spirit, if matured in quality casks. The whole problem is that the Whisky industry doesn't trust us, the consumer to understand this! They patronize us instead by purposely withholding the age of the whiskies used and give the product some fancy name in the hope that we won't notice.
The bottom line is that they are afraid that stating that the youngest whisky in this bottling is 5 years old might negatively affect sales. To this I have two responses. 1. With the right marketing with words like fresh, clean, youthful, vibrant, it can be made to appeal. 2. The age statement does not have to be blazened across the front but can appear at the back somewhere. You can even be very ckever and state age of distilling and year of bottling and leave it up to those who want to know to work it out.
Withholding information like the age of the youngest whisky used or indeed the types of casks used is never a good thing and leads to a feeling by many consumers of dishonesty.Posted on: 19 July 2015

Speaking of "bond of trust", I noticed, after a particularly disappointing glass of Oban (a Diageo whisky), that the label now says simply "Oban 14". Nowhere does it specifically say "14 years old", or indicate the distillation/bottling dates.
As more and more NAS whisky appears, at higher and higher prices, I am convinced that often times a dram of 30 year old is going in to vats of 5 year old whisky and coming out as "Old Captain MacHaggis's ancient recipe very special blend traditional Scots Wa Hae highland and island rare old limited edition." For only $200 a bottle.Posted on: 26 June 2015